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THE STAR SHOWS THE WAY
When Franz Pedersen has to find his way through what, seen from an outsider's point of view, appears to be an almost impenetrable flavour jungle - nose, intuition and Knowledge are not the only tracks that Mac Baren's product development manager has to guide him in his quest for the optimum basic tobaccos and the optimum tobacco mixtures.
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An indispensable panel of experienced pipe smokers is smelling and sampling enthusiastically in the wings and their responses and evaluations help to create the basis for the finished product in the tin.
In fact having a nose for tobacco means that it is necessary to be something of a romantic. Not only must the sight of an old sailing ship, such as the picture that Franz Pedersen has hanging on his wall, arouse a longing for remote horizons replete with green tobacco fields, but the feeling for nature's raw materials and for good, old-fashioned craftsmanship should preferably also be in the blood.
It is therefore by no means a matter of chance that an ancient tobacco-cutting machine has been given pride of place in his well-lit office at Svendborg, where the product development manager's own photographs remind visitors of the links with exotic countries in general and of the trade's noble traditions in particular.
Having just returned from a longer business trip to Brazil there are clear signs just now that Franz Pedersen has added a special touch of inspiration from the heights of Brazil to his daily work of composing the right tobacco mixtures. |
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As Franz Pedersen himself puts it, “There really is a world of difference.”
“I was way up in the mountains where it is very difficult to get anywhere in a car. Right up there with the small tobacco growers who sit there pulling the tobacco leaves from the stalks, after which they sort out all the leaves and later send them to the factories. But even though conditions were extremely primitive, seen with our eyes, it appeared as though the growers were highly satisfied with their lives. It means a great deal to have experienced these things at first hand so that I can combine theory and practice on a daily basis
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”You get right up close and discover what the art of producing good tobacco is basically all about. The drying process, before the tobacco is delivered to the big factories for final processing, is a science in itself. This is because the two most important tobaccos require very special treatment to ensure that they are dried correctly.”
“The growers are taught how to do this by the factory owners who travel around signing contracts with the individual growers. But simply the feeling of standing out there in the fields - looking at, listening to and feeling what is actually happening. Then everything falls into place and you're looking forward to going home and getting down to business.”
“There is only one way: The combination of good, old-fashioned craftsmanship and, first and foremost, not being afraid to throw yourself headlong into matters on route.”
“When I blend tobacco I am alone with the process. But fortunately I have my panel in the background. The panel is made up of knowledgeable pipe smokers who carefully taste and smoke throughout the process and this is where I can obtain a more objective evaluation. There may be a little too much of this or that ingredient. But after that it is up to me to decide when I feel 'it's there'. In the final analysis I am the one who must be able to say - 'Now the product is ready'.”
In concrete terms tobacco is built up layer by layer. First the tobacco leaf mixture is composed. This primarily comprises the three main components: Flue-cured also known as “Virginia”, air-cured, called “Burley” – and finally Oriental tobacco. |
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“One of my jobs is to know how - and in which proportions - to mix the different types of tobacco in order to produce the required shades of flavour. Then I put
together what is known as a “casing”: This is a basic 'sauce' which includes such ingredients as sugar, liquorice and honey.”
There is a precise knowledge of the way these substances will react relative to the tobacco and they support and emphasise the |
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natural aromatic substances that are already present in the leaves.
“We then add the individual subsidiary components to the casing one at a time and finally mix these to produce the finished semi-manufacture to which we finally add what is known as the “top flavour”, that is the special characteristic we wish to add to the tobacco.”
“This is where I exclusively rely on my intuition and experience, and my job involves knowing how the different tobaccos will react relative to each other and which types of casing I must use to produce the best shades of flavour.”
Then it is the panel's turn where they initially evaluate the product without smoking it. The smokers begin by opening the tin, smelling its contents and making marks in a table, and the evaluation of a series of parameters continues in this way before anybody even lights a pipe. Pipes are then lit and a series of flavour parameters is evaluated, and the responses are processed afterwards to result in the 'flavour star' that is the foundation for Franz Pedersen's further work.
"I have an ideal star that I base my work on and this helps me to find out if I am on the right track."
“I also have an ideal star that I base my work on and with this as a background I can find out if I am on the right track. This shows quite clearly which parameters I should work with when I carry out my next trial.”
And trials are necessary when the marketing department suddenly comes up with a special request for a good tobacco with a slightly fruity flavour where there should also be a good interplay of colour in the tobacco. Mac Baren's international product specialist, Per Georg Jensen, in particular, keeps his ear to the ground and knows which direction developments are taking.
“It is also the case in our business that you have be the first to make an appearance with innovations - partly with regard to the way the tobacco leaf is mixed and partly with regard to flavour, but most definitely also in the way the tobacco is handled from a purely physical point of view. How it is cut, for example, and how the colours are mixed. There must also be something to appeal to the eye when people look at their tobacco - and there must be something for the nose and taste buds. So, putting it briefly, there are many factors that play a role.”
“We must be at the forefront of what is going on and which trends are coming up. Not only in the tobacco industry, but also when it comes to other stimulants, for example, and also in society in general.”
“Many less experienced pipe smokers prefer the sweet, more aromatic tobaccos.
The focus is on flavour in particular in the vanilla flavoured tobaccos such as “Original Choice” and “Vanilla loose cut”, and the tobaccos must therefore be mild so as not to dominate the flavour.”
“As a counterpart to the aromatic tobaccos we similarly produce tobaccos which are mixed with the more full-bodied tobaccos where the natural aroma substances of the tobaccos provide the mixture with character.”
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